Asia — The Future Center of the World Economy

Abstract

Asia is by far the most populous continent. It accounts for 56% of the world’s population or 3.31 billion people. By the year 2025 its population is expected to increase by 60% to 5.26 billion or just a little less than today’s world population. Of this population, 42% or about 2.2 billion will inhabit South Asia, 38% East Asia, 5% Central Asia, and 15% Southeast Asia. In other words, the population of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh will exceed that of China, Japan, Taiwan, and Korea. By the year 2010, around 35% of Asia’s people will reside in urban areas and the number of Asian cities with one million or greater population will be 101, including 38 in China and 24 in India.